Conner Canon and Continuity

[Mmmfloorpie]

I am rewatching the series and am noticing several continuity issues. Creating this thread just to keep track of them.

Currently I am watching the Season 4 Thanksgiving episode. Bev tells Nana Mary "That is a brand new car!" Later in the season she offers Becky her "old car" because she will be buying a new car.

Feel free to contribute other instances you've noticed.

[peacheslatour]

Maybe she was driving the old man's car because he was off fucking his mistress? One of the continuity "in jokes" I loved was when we were originally introduced to David his name was Kevin. Later Darlene said something to the effect that David's name isn't even David it's Kevin but she has him so whupped that she changed his name.

[Bastet]

17 minutes ago, Mmmfloorpie said:

Currently I am watching the Season 4 Thanksgiving episode. Bev tells Nana Mary "That is a brand new car!" Later in the season she offers Becky her "old car" because she will be buying a new car.

And those two things are only a few episodes apart, too, which is what makes it funny to me.  With these things, I always like to see if I can come up with a plausible off-screen story to justify the apparent inconsistency.

She tells Nana Mary it's a brand-new car in the context of telling her to stuff it, because when they arrive at the Conner house for Thanksgiving, Nana Mary complains about her aching butt (from sitting in the car).  So it could have been new-ish and she was exaggerating to shut her up.

But when Becky talks about the dollar-for-dollar matching deal she has with Dan and Roseanne, Bev says, "You know, Becky, all these years I've been driving your grandfather's hand-me-downs. It's time I had a new car of my own. But the one I have is in very good condition."

So, if we went with the "new-ish" theory for the comment in the Thanksgiving episode, does this one still contradict it?  For it not to, we have to first accept that even though it was only a couple of years old, Al bought a better car and gave this one to Bev.  Then, that, even though it is only a couple of years old, Bev is ready to ditch it because she wants her very first brand new car.  That second prong is actually quite believable, since this is when she's totally fired up about spending Al's money in light of the impending divorce - she absolutely would give away a perfectly good car and buy a new one, just to spite him.  But is the first prong believable?  We don't know enough about Al's car-buying habits to say whether jumping from car to car when a better one comes along is his thing.  He was getting ready to leave his wife for his mistress, though, so maybe he did - in order to treat himself to a spiffier car and to assuage his guilt by giving her a car better than his last hand-me-down she was driving as his parting gift.

So, the two statements can co-exist with some real fanwanking, but if Bev had just told Nana Mary, "Stop it, Mother, that is a perfectly good car," instead, it wouldn't be necessary.

[FairyDusted]

Crystal and Dans' Dad....They left together one Thanksgiving and it gave Dan fits. Then later in the series Roseanne catches them kissing in her bedroom. Dan blows. Again! 

[Mmmfloorpie]

18 hours ago, Bastet said:

And those two things are only a few episodes apart, too, which is what makes it funny to me.  With these things, I always like to see if I can come up with a plausible off-screen story to justify the apparent inconsistency.

She tells Nana Mary it's a brand-new car in the context of telling her to stuff it, because when they arrive at the Conner house for Thanksgiving, Nana Mary complains about her aching butt (from sitting in the car).  So it could have been new-ish and she was exaggerating to shut her up.

But when Becky talks about the dollar-for-dollar matching deal she has with Dan and Roseanne, Bev says, "You know, Becky, all these years I've been driving your grandfather's hand-me-downs. It's time I had a new car of my own. But the one I have is in very good condition."

So, if we went with the "new-ish" theory for the comment in the Thanksgiving episode, does this one still contradict it?  For it not to, we have to first accept that even though it was only a couple of years old, Al bought a better car and gave this one to Bev.  Then, that, even though it is only a couple of years old, Bev is ready to ditch it because she wants her very first brand new car.  That second prong is actually quite believable, since this is when she's totally fired up about spending Al's money in light of the impending divorce - she absolutely would give away a perfectly good car and buy a new one, just to spite him.  But is the first prong believable?  We don't know enough about Al's car-buying habits to say whether jumping from car to car when a better one comes along is his thing.  He was getting ready to leave his wife for his mistress, though, so maybe he did - in order to treat himself to a spiffier car and to assuage his guilt by giving her a car better than his last hand-me-down she was driving as his parting gift.

So, the two statements can co-exist with some real fanwanking, but if Bev had just told Nana Mary, "Stop it, Mother, that is a perfectly good car," instead, it wouldn't be necessary.

Lol it is fun to try to justify the errors. My problem with your explanation is Bev specifically says "brand new car". Not "new car". 

18 hours ago, FairyDusted said:

Crystal and Dans' Dad....They left together one Thanksgiving and it gave Dan fits. Then later in the series Roseanne catches them kissing in her bedroom. Dan blows. Again! 

I noticed that too. In the episode they finally tell Dan he acts as if he had no clue what was going on. In the season 2 Thanksgiving episode, Dan confronts Ed about it and it's not like Ed says "ok I'll stop". He says "you don't know what it's like to be lonely" then leaves for Crystal's.

Ok I found another error and I thought of a justification lol.

When Jackie comes to tell Roseanne she is going to Kansas City she says "I have a load to take to Topeka and then ON THE WAY BACK I was going to stop in Kansas City to check out Dad's mistress."

When they go to her apartment and Roseanne does the Felgred thing, Jackie explains that they can't go in because they have a load of stuff to get somewhere. If they followed Jackie's plan, they would have already dropped off the load.

My explanation is pretty easy. Jackie just lied to Joan to get out of going inside to meet with her. Still fun to point out though.

[Mmmfloorpie]

In the season 4 episode about Roseanne's boob job, at they very opening there are two female customers at Rodbell's Diner wearing the Chicken Divine uniforms.

[Mmmfloorpie]

Gotta write this down before I forget it again. In one of the last episodes of season 4, Roseanne and her friends gather at the Lobo.

Anne Marie comes late and mentions Chuck lost his job at Wellman. When Anne Marie and Roseanne are reunited in season 3, they hadn't seen each other since high school and Roseanne doesn't even recognize her.

You'd think they would have run into each other at a company picnic or something. Or that Chuck and Roseanne would have talked about her at some point.

[peacheslatour]

Remember when Jackie slept with Arnie? They were all sitting in the luncheonette and they said they had made a pact in high school that Arnie never, ever be allowed to reproduce. I however, recall an episode when Jackie was still a cop and Roseanne asked  her if there was something weird about Dan's new friend Arnie.

They did not know him in high school.

[Mmmfloorpie]

3 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Remember when Jackie slept with Arnie? They were all sitting in the luncheonette and they said they had made a pact in high school that Arnie never, ever be allowed to reproduce. I however, recall an episode when Jackie was still a cop and Roseanne asked  her if there was something weird about Dan's new friend Arnie.

They did not know him in high school.

That's a good one.

I watched Crystal and Ed's wedding. Anne Marie is visible in a pew as Crystal walks down the aisle. Next to her is a black man who is not Chuckie lol. You can also see him in the end credits when they sing the hanky panky song.

This was quite a few episodes before the real Chuckie showed up in the bbq episode.

[Mmmfloorpie]

Yet another. In season 3's "Valentine's Day", Barry calls Darlene and says "Hi, this is Barry Parker calling..."

In the Season 8 episode Heart and Soul where Dan is recovering from his heart attack, when he and Darlene dance she says "Barry what's his name" and Dan replies" Barry Evans. His name was Barry Evans".

No. No it wasn't. Lol.

It was all a figment of Roseanne's imagination so I guess it doesn't matter.

[Mmmfloorpie]

Can't believe I didn't think about this one earlier.

Season 4 when they get the tattoo artist, Dan has the Rose tattoo.

Roseanne says he never calls her Rose.

In multiple preceeding episodes Dan DOES call her Rose. I'm watching the second season Thanksgiving ep and everyone calls her Rose practically. Bev and Audrey do. Ed does in other eps too.

[Mmmfloorpie]

This can also be correct continuity things as well...

In season 2 "Braindead Poets Society" Darlene tells Dan he should install a light outside so they can play basketball at night.

 

Later in the season she says "Let's go play some b ball under the lights" in the Fathers and Daughters episode. I guess Dan must have done it!

[BookThief]

There's when they turn Mr. Faber (the reason Roseanne quits the factory) into Mr. Wellman in the final season when she meets James Brolin's son-of-Mr. Wellman character.

[Mmmfloorpie]

On 9/8/2017 at 9:37 PM, BookThief said:

There's when they turn Mr. Faber (the reason Roseanne quits the factory) into Mr. Wellman in the final season when she meets James Brolin's son-of-Mr. Wellman character.

And also Faber and Meg Wellman aren't even close to being old enough to be James Brolin's parents lol.

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, Mmmfloorpie said:

And also Faber and Meg Wellman aren't even close to being old enough to be James Brolin's parents lol.

Lol. Fred Thompson was born in 1942, James Brolin was born in 1940. Faber was two years younger than the Wellman heir.

[Mmmfloorpie]

I mentioned this in another thread. In season 2 "Birthday" episode Roseanne is given Saturday's off for her birthday.

Earlier in the season she quit Chicken Divine over working Saturdays.

[Mmmfloorpie]

The season 2 episode with Arnie's first appearance has Roseanne tell Jackie that Arnie works for the water and power company. Also he is practically married to a woman named Sharon.

Then in like the second episode of the third season, Dan loans Arnie money to buy an engagement ring for NANCY. Also, Dan says Arnie throws a lot of work his way as a fellow contractor...

Weird he would ditch Sharon then be close to engaged to Nancy in such a short period.

Also he quickly changed careers. The saving grace though is when Nancy and Arnie get married in season 4, Nancy explains they met when Arnie was peeping on her while he worked for the water and power company.

Edited September 13, 2017 by Mmmfloorpie

[Mmmfloorpie]

The level of cereal and milk on DJs jeans changes when Becky spills it on him in S2 Am officer and a gentleman.

[qtpye]

On Monday, September 11, 2017 at 1:41 PM, Mmmfloorpie said:

I mentioned this in another thread. In season 2 "Birthday" episode Roseanne is given Saturday's off for her birthday.

Earlier in the season she quit Chicken Divine over working Saturdays.

It's even sadder.  Roseanne actually liked the fast food job, but did not want to work weekends.  She invites her punkteenage boss over for his favorite dinner (wieners) so Dan can complete his shop project.  The kid actually has the audacity to fire her for not wanting to work weekends.  The sad thing is that R realizes that she is always going to be at the mercy of people like that kid, because she can only do low skill and low wage jobs.  Since she thought the salon was rock bottom, maybe she just sucked it up?

Also, even if they try to dress her up like Rizzo fron Grease, there is no way I will ever believe that Joan Collins is related to Roseanne.

[Mmmfloorpie]

On 9/11/2017 at 1:41 PM, Mmmfloorpie said:

I mentioned this in another thread. In season 2 "Birthday" episode Roseanne is given Saturday's off for her birthday.

Earlier in the season she quit Chicken Divine over working Saturdays.

During the interview with Marsha she says she can't work weekends lol.

Also in the first Beauty shop episode Marsha says "we drip brew our coffee here" as she pours Roseanne a cup of coffee out of a percolator lol.

Edited September 15, 2017 by Mmmfloorpie

[StaceyNotStacie]

Watching the later episodes, and I'm wondering about the day to day care of the little kids (Jerry and Andy). I'm guessing that Bev watched them quite a bit, and they made reference to Becky watching them a few times, but I can't see either one doing it full time. I'm guessing Andy went to preschool sometimes since they also had Fred's income, but the day to day care taking of Jerry was never mentioned and I can't see Roseanne bringing him to the diner. 

I also wonder what was the result of Dan's boat. I think his mom burned it in the Debbie Reynolds episode, but if that didn't exist, I wonder if he ever finished it or if it's still a work in progress in the garage. 

[anna0852]

Given that both Roseanne and Jackie were owners of the diner, it was probably easier for them to rearrange schedules for child care. For example if Roseanne works the later shifts of the day she could care for Jerry in the morning until Becky or DJ or David was available to do so in the afternoon and evening hours. Jackie could probably do something similar around a daycare or preschool schedule for Andy, not to mention he was presumably being cared for by Fred under a custody arrangement at least half the time.

Edited September 18, 2017 by anna0852

[Mmmfloorpie]

By season 8 they only worked when the plot required it lol.

[Maharincess]

In the first episode with Ziggy, he tells Dan and Roseanne that he had two sons, he even says he checked them at birth and they were boys. In Ziggy's second episode he said his kids were with their father because they weren't his kids. 

The Ziggy thing makes me laugh every time I see it, he's supposed to be a life long, die hard biker but all of his leathers are brand new without a crease in them.  A real biker's leathers would not look like that. 

[peacheslatour]

I caught this one last night. Roseanne, Jackie and the rest of the Wellman gang were recalling high school and Crystal said there was this one girl at high school who was always Miss Perfect and Jackie and Roseanne said they had a girl like that at their school too. Then in subsequent episodes they always said they went to high school together.

[Mmmfloorpie]

18 hours ago, Maharincess said:

In the first episode with Ziggy, he tells Dan and Roseanne that he had two sons, he even says he checked them at birth and they were boys. In Ziggy's second episode he said his kids were with their father because they weren't his kids. 

The Ziggy thing makes me laugh every time I see it, he's supposed to be a life long, die hard biker but all of his leathers are brand new without a crease in them.  A real biker's leathers would not look like that. 

One thing they got right about Ziggy was his last name though. In the first episode he's in he says his last name to Becky. Then when they are getting a loan in the next season Dan introduces him to the banker.

I forgot what exactly the last name was though lol.

There's the season 9 episode where Roseanne and Jackie work with James Brolin to save Wellman.

It is twice established in season 4 that Wellman closed. In "The Commercial" Jerry Bowman loses his job at Wellman because they are in trouble. Then in "Secrets" Anne Marie tells them Chuckie lost his job and 'Wellman is history".

[Bastet]

1 minute ago, Mmmfloorpie said:

There's the season 9 episode where Roseanne and Jackie work with James Brolin to save Wellman.

It is twice established in season 4 that Wellman closed. In "The Commercial" Jerry Bowman loses his job at Wellman because they are in trouble. Then in "Secrets" Anne Marie tells them Chuckie lost his job and 'Wellman is history".

Well, "Wellman is history" could just be her prediction of its impending failure, given the trajectory it was on, rather than a factual statement that it had closed, but even if it did shut down completely - and I always assumed it did at some point, since it kept getting smaller and smaller - the James Brolin storyline doesn't count to me as an inconsistency because it was just one of Roseanne's fantasies she put in the book, when she was writing about all these inspired-by-TV/movies fantasies she'd fulfill if she had all the money in the world.  Playing hero to the remaining factory workers was just one of those fantasies.

[Mmmfloorpie]

5 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Well, "Wellman is history" could just be her prediction of its impending failure, given the trajectory it was on, rather than a factual statement that it had closed, but even if it did shut down completely - and I always assumed it did at some point, since it kept getting smaller and smaller - the James Brolin storyline doesn't count to me as an inconsistency because it was just one of Roseanne's fantasies she put in the book, when she was writing about all these inspired-by-TV/movies fantasies she'd fulfill if she had all the money in the world.  Playing hero to the remaining factory workers was just one of those fantasies.

Chuckie was one of the last to be fired because he had seniority though.

[peacheslatour]

Quote

James Brolin storyline doesn't count to me as an inconsistency because it was just one of Roseanne's fantasies she put in the book, when she was writing about all these inspired-by-TV/movies fantasies she'd fulfill if she had all the money in the world.  Playing hero to the remaining factory workers was just one of those fantasies.

The whole fucking last season doesn't count for me precisely because of this kind of shenanigans.

[anna0852]

There was also a mention made in the season 4 finale, when the bike shop closed. Rosanne mentioned a job interview for a company that was taking over the old Wellman plant. To me that indicates that Wellman's had shut down.

[Mmmfloorpie]

18 hours ago, anna0852 said:

There was also a mention made in the season 4 finale, when the bike shop closed. Rosanne mentioned a job interview for a company that was taking over the old Wellman plant. To me that indicates that Wellman's had shut down.

Thanks. Haven't gotten that far in the season lol.

[DB in CMH]

On 9/27/2017 at 4:07 PM, anna0852 said:

There was also a mention made in the season 4 finale, when the bike shop closed. Rosanne mentioned a job interview for a company that was taking over the old Wellman plant. To me that indicates that Wellman's had shut down.

Which is also the episode where she throws a bag of frozen Eggo waffles into the magical microwave, then in the same scene dumps them onto into a plate for Dan.

Roseanne smoking in the bike shop when Jackie went to get her a soda is a head scratcher.  That a) she was trying to hide her smoking by smoking in An enclosed space,  and b) that Jackie never noticed the smell or smoke when she came back to get money.

Edited September 29, 2017 by DB in CMH

[Mmmfloorpie]

33 minutes ago, DB in CMH said:

Which is also the episode where she throws a bag of frozen Eggo waffles into the magical microwave, then in the same scene dumps them onto into a plate for Dan.

Roseanne smoking in the bike shop when Jackie went to get her a soda is a head scratcher.  That a) she was trying to hide her smoking by smoking in An enclosed space,  and b) that Jackie never noticed the smell or smoke when she came back to get money.

She only took a puff or two so there wouldn't have been a plume of smoke in there. Plus Jackie stood by the door.

[Mmmfloorpie]

S3 Trouble with the Rubbles Dan builds Roseanne a shelving unit because she was bugging him about the one in the Bowman's house. She says she has been bugging him for a shelf like that for 12 years.

S5 Glengary Glen Rosey they are touring Jackie's future home and she says she has been bugging Dan for a shelf unit for 15 years...

[readster]

Just watched Roseanne's Dad's Funeral episode and the argument with Jackie. She tells Rosey that it as her fault that their father never came around because she got so upset about what their father did over the years. Couldn't forgive him, ect. Then go ahead two years later with DJ stealing the car and Jackie says: "That was just like dad! Out of control and just letting us have it for no good reason." "Why we had such a horrible time wanting him to come over more before he died." 

[Maharincess]

I hated when they turned her father in to an abuser. Before that he was just the annoying "pull my finger" grandpa. 

[peacheslatour]

25 minutes ago, Maharincess said:

I hated when they turned her father in to an abuser. Before that he was just the annoying "pull my finger" grandpa. 

Yep. I don't know why she felt compelled to drag that onto the show. 

[DB in CMH]

I liked that plot. It added a lot more depth to the show. 

[readster]

13 hours ago, DB in CMH said:

I liked that plot. It added a lot more depth to the show. 

I had no problem with it, I also liked how they went into more of Dan's family's true issues with his mom and even dealing with Darlene's depression. What I didn't like was the flip flopping with Roseanne and Jackie with: "Love Dad, hate dad, it's mom's fault for letting it happen, oh mom we love you, girls I'm gay and I hated your grandma too because she partied instead of being a mom." Pick a back drop and stick to it. 

 

Oh remember when David talked about his and Mark's dad walking out on their mom and taking their younger siblings with them? Yeah, whatever happened with them? Then flash forward to David and Darlene's wedding and David talking about how their dad wasn't there, yet Mark saying how much their dad taught them. Bad home lives on Roseanne had their moments, but then it was: "ummm.... they had to be nice at some point right?" 

[anna0852]

I thought the home lives described were very true to life. There were good moments and there were bad moments. And those bad moments were pretty bad. It took a long time for both Roseanne and Jackie to come to terms with it. I don't see that is a continuity problem, I see Roseanne and later Jackie later recognizing what really happened to them in their childhood.

[Mmmfloorpie]

On 10/14/2017 at 3:02 PM, peacheslatour said:

Yep. I don't know why she felt compelled to drag that onto the show. 

The whole show mirrored her personal life.

Her husband worked on the show as creative consultant, writer and acted in one episode.

She was very close to her younger sister who was a producer on the show. Roseanne's character was very close with younger sister Jackie.

Roseanne had 3 children (by Pentland) who strongly resemble Darlene/Becky/DJ. Her son's name is Jacob... DJ = David Jacob.

Tom Arnold is brought on the show as a character and producer. His character's name is Arnie Thomas... Tom Arnold, get it?

Tom's show The Jackie Thomas Show is referenced a couple times.

Roseanne and Tom open up a loose meat restaurant in Iowa. Roseanne's character opens a loose meat restaurant having stole the idea from a place in Iowa.

Roseanne says she is the product of incest and was sexually abused by her parents. Roseanne's character's parents are turned into monsters.

Roseanne's character is said to be having a baby girl. Roseanne the person ends up having a boy so they end up changing the character to a boy as well.

There's probably a lot more examples too.

[DB in CMH]

The whole final season mirrors her life after winning the lottery (ie - getting a TV show) 

[Mmmfloorpie]

Watching the first and second seasons again. Seems like they hadn't established Dan does drywall until later in season 2 and maybe season 3.

 

Everytime he talks about a job it revolves around something a cement finisher would do. More than a few times he says "I'm pouring a driveway" or something to that effect.

When they meet Chip's parents he says he knows the guy that did the parking lot or something like that.

Also when his father comes to visit the first time Dan is trying to fix a cement mixer I think.

I think they firmed up he does drywall around the time Arnie comes on the show.

[peacheslatour]

^^^^You're right, I noticed that too. Remember when that asshole was hassling everyone at Dan's B-day party? Is that when we first learned that Dan was dry walling?

[Bastet]

That birthday party was during the Four Aces Construction days, so I'm not sure whether it was when he seemed more like a general contractor or when he was focused on drywalling.

[peacheslatour]

The next day after the party Dan was measuring some dry wall and Dwight came in and started telling Darlene about the "fight" the night before and Dan got pissed and threw a hammer through the dry wall. That's the first time I remember dry wall being mentioned. Wow, I've never typed "dry wall" that many times in my life. ;-0

[Mmmfloorpie]

In the birthday party episode Dan says when the 19 year old was trying to show him up "if I picked a sack of cement, he picked up two. If I picked up 6 2x4s he picked up 12. 2x4s could be used to make the molds for the cement like for a driveway or sidewalk.

Season 2 episode 3, Dan says he had to give up a job pouring a driveway because he already had a job pouring another.

By episode 4, Dan is said to be doing the drywall at the Burt Drucker job. This is the earliest reference to him doing drywall I've found so far.

Edited November 10, 2017 by Mmmfloorpie

[Bastet]

It may have been a situation where he, as Four Aces Construction, was a jack of all trades, someone who'd bid on anything he could do, maybe even as a general contractor but on small jobs.  Then as his connections expanded, he could get hired onto bigger jobs, not as the general contractor, but as the drywall subcontractor, and that's how he wound up transitioning to the focus on drywall.  So, not a continuity error to me.

Edited November 10, 2017 by Bastet

[Mmmfloorpie]

Funny how in season 1 they don't want to leave the kids alone to go to dinner but by season 2 they drive to Molene with Becky and Darlene staying home.

In the first season that was just because Jackie was running late. In season 2 she went to Molene with them lol.

[Mmmfloorpie]

Jackie was so seriously injured she could no longer be a policewoman... Yet never is her injury mentioned again...